Spain claims ownership of the treasure ship San Jose based on the United Nations Law of the Sea, while Colombia does not participate in this law.
Objects remaining on the sunken ship – Photo: AFP
According to AFP on December 13, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo and his Colombian counterpart María Angel Holguin met in Cartagena to resolve disagreements. However, the results of the meeting are unclear.
It all started after the San Jose ship carrying treasure worth billions of dollars, sunk by the British in the 18th century, was found in the waters more than 25km from the coast of the Colombian city of Cartagena.
Spain says it has ownership of the ship because it originally belongs to Spain. In June 1708, when it was sunk, it was carrying gold, silver and many other valuable things to Spain for King Philip V.
But Colombia doesn’t think so. President Juan Manuel Santos said it took the country a long time of research and searching to determine the location of the San Jose ship. It was this country that found the ship in its waters, so they had the right to own the ship.
In addition, Spain claims ownership of the treasure ship San Jose based on the United Nations Law of the Sea, while Colombia does not participate in this law.
“There are differences over who is the rightful owner of the ship,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said, but added that he hoped everything would be resolved based on long-term good relations. long between the two countries.
“This is not an issue that divides us,” Colombian Foreign Minister María Angel Holguin declared, although admitting legal disagreements remained.
Before San Jose was found, treasure hunters spent decades searching for it. In 1981, an American company called SSA claimed to have located the ship off the coast of Colombia.
At that time, they agreed with the Colombian government that the two sides would split the proceeds from finding the ship. However, Colombia later withdrew from the agreement, saying the assets on the ship belonged to them and only gave SSA 5% of the value of the treasure called a “finder’s fee”.
SSA naturally did not agree, and the case was taken to court. In 2011, a US court ruled that the ship was property of the Colombian government.
In addition to its valuable assets, San Jose is also of interest after being identified by the United Nations as one of the world’s underwater cultural heritage sites.
